Shoe tie



March 17, 1970 R. A. BENNETT SHOE TIE 2 Sheets-Sheet Filed May 13, 1968INVENTOR ROBERT A. BENNETT BY (aw 551g,

ATTORNEYS March 17, 1970 R. A. BENNETT 3,

SHOE am:

Filed May 13, 1968 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 7

||\\\ \\mlo 28 23 lo FIG. 12 \HIIIIHIHHHIHI Q 29 29 I 42 g} lg llll 282e mu IR m INVENTOR ROBERT A. BENNETT ATTORNEYS United States Patent M3,500,508 SHOE TIE Robert A. Bennett, Shelton, Conn., assignor toBridgeport Plating Company, Inc., Bridgeport, Conn., a corporation ofConnecticut Filed May 13, 1968, Ser. No. 728,704 Int. Cl. F16g 11/00 US.Cl. 24117 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE As is known, shoe ties areoften used on the shoes of babies and juveniles to prevent the lacesfrom becoming untied. Such ties are preferably made simple to operate,so that the lace can be adjusted to a desired degree of tightnesswithout too much trouble. Also, it is desired that the tie be madeeconomically.

The present invention relates to a novel shoe tie which is botheconomical to produce and simple to operate. In accordance with theinvention a tie is provided which has a body and a cover. The body isformed with two pairs of holes, one pair being used for each end of alace. A channel is also provided in the body to hold and lock the headof each end of the lace. The channel is formed generally transverse ofthe holes.

In operation of the tie of the present invention, each end of a lace isthreaded through a pair of holes to form a respective loop and the headof each end is locked in the channel. The tie is slidable over a portionof the end of lace forming each loop so that the tightness of the lacecan be adjusted merely by holding the two loops and moving the tie.Since the head of each end of the lace is locked in the channel, thelace does not separate from the tie. After the tie has been adjusted toa desired location, a cover member is fastened to the body which engagesand holds the two portions of each. loop formed by a respective end ofthe lace.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to r provide a tiefor a shoe lace which securely holds the ends of a lace.

Another object is to provide a tie for a shoe lace in which thetightness of the lace is easily adjustable by sliding the tie.

An additional object is to provide a shoe lace tie in which each end ofa lace is passed through a pair of holes to form a loop and the head ofeach end of the lace is locked in a channel.

A further object is to provide a shoe lace tie which is prevented frombecoming disengaged from the lace by locking of the heads of the ends ofthe lace to the body.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become moreapparent upon reference to the following specification and annexeddrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a shoe with the tie of the presentinvention shown thereon;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the tie shown from the bottom with thecover removed;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the tie in the position shown in FIG. 2,showing the threading of one end of a shoelace;

3,500,508 Patented Mar. 17, 1970 FIG. 4 is an elevational view incross-section of the holder taken along the lines 4-4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of the tie as shown in FIG. 4 with oneend of a lace fully threaded;

FIG. 6 is a top view of the tie with one end of a lace threaded;

FIGS. 7 and 8 are exploded perspective views of the tie and cover fromthe top and bottom thereof, respectively;

FIG. 9 is a top view of an assembled tie taken in crosssection alonglines 99 of FIG. 10;

FIGS. 10 and 11 are elevational views of an assembled tie taken insection along lines 10-10 and 1111 of FIG. 9, respectively, which arelocated from each other;

FIG. 12 is an elevational view of an assembled tie; and

FIG. 13 is a top view of a tie with both ends of a lace threaded.

Referring to the various figures of the drawing, the shoe tie of thepresent invention is a two-piece device formed by a base 20 and a cover40. Both pieces are made of any suitable material, for example, aplastic which can be made in a conventional manner such as by injectionmolding. Therefore, the shoe tie of the present invention is veryinexpensive to produce.

In the illustrated embodiment, the base is shown as generally circularin shape with the cover also being of a conforming circular shape. Othersuitable shapes can be used, as desired, since the exact shape of thebase and the cover are not critical to the operation of the invention.

As seen, the base 20 has four through holes of approximately the samesize therein with their centers spaced 90 apart on radii from the centerof the base. A pair of holes spaced 90 apart is used for each end of ashoe lace. For convenience, one pair of holes is designated 22-1 and22-2 and the other pair 24-1 and 242. The holes 221, 241 and 22-2, 242are respectively diametrically opposite each other. Of course, the 90spacing from center-to-center for the holes is not critical.

A screw threaded opening 28 is formed in the center of the base andextends only partially therethrongh. The upper portion of the base 20 iscut away around its periphery to form a shoulder 29. As should beapparent, the raised portion of the base above the shoulder forms amodified form of a maltese cross around the four openings 22 and 24.

The cover 40 is of the same general shape as the base and has a fiattop. A collar 42 is formed on the underside of the cover 40 (see FIG. 8)which fits in the shoulder 29 of the base. A screw 46 which mates withthe screw threaded opening 26 of the base member also extends downwardlyfrom the underside of the cover so that the cover 40 can be tighteneddown and held on the base.

A channel 26 is formed diametrically through the lower portion of thebase. Channel 26 communicates with the diametrically opposing holes 22-2and 242 but does not communicate with either of the holes 22-1 or 241.The channel 26 is large enough to accommodate the two reinforced headsof the ends of a single lace. As shown in FIG. 3, the walls of thebottom of the body adjacent the holes 22-2 and 242 are cut away at 23 toexpose the channel 26 inwardly of these two holes. The purpose of thechannel is described below.

Indicia numbers 1 and 2 are preferably printed on the bottom of the baseto aid in the use of the tie. The indicia 1 and 2 are printed adjacentthe holes with the corresponding suffix numbers -1 and -2.

The operation of the shoe tie of the present invention is explained byreferring to FIGS. 2-6. One end 121 of a lace 12 is inserted into thebottom of hole 22-1 (FIG. 2) and pulled through this hole. Then, asshown in FIG.

3, the lace end 12-1 inserted into the other hole 22-2 of the pair andpulled all the way through to form a loop at the top of the body. In thenext step, as shown in FIG. 4, end '12-1 of the lace is pulled outwardlythrough the cutout portion 23 of the base and then inserted into thechannel 26. A pull is then given the left portion (FIG. 4) of the loopof the lace extending out of the top of the base to pull the excessportion of the lace back through the hole 22-2 so that the lace willassume the shape as shown in FIG. 5. As can be seen, the hardened, orreinforced end 13-1 of the lace is locked within the channel 26 andcannot be easily removed. For example, any pull downward on the loop, inthe direction of the arrow shown in FIG. 5 will cause the head to cockand engage the wall of the body surrounding the channel. The only way toget the head 13-1 of the lace out is to push out by inserting a memberthrough the end of channel 26 adjacent hole 22-2. Thus, the one end ofthe lace is locked to the tie.

As should be apparent, the portion of the lace extending through hole22-1 can be moved relative to the body 20 or the body moved relative tothe lace. Thus, the body can be slid up and down on the portion of thelace extending through the hole 22-1.

The other end 12-2 of the lace (not shown in FIGS. 2-6) is inserted intothe tie in the same manner using the hole pair 24-1 and 24-2. In thiscase, the head of lace end 12-2 is inserted down through hole 24-1(where the indicia 1 is shown) and pulled out. It is then pushed throughthe hole 24-2 from the top of the body. The head end of this end of thelace is then inserted into the end of channel 26 adjacent the opening ofhole 24-2.

After both ends of the lace are inserted in the tie, the head ends arelocked in the channel 26 in the manner previously described. Therefore,the tie will not fall off the lace under normal usage conditions.

To adjust the tightness of a lace on a shoe using the tie 10, it is onlynecessary to holdthe two loops which extend from the tie, and move thetie up or down. The tie'slides over the two portions of the laceextending through holes 22-1 and 24-1. The tie is usually pushed downuntil the bottom of the base (with the indicia thereon) is against thetop of the shoe and the desired degree of tightness is obtained. Thecover 40 is then screwed onto the base and the portions of the loopsformed by the lace ends 12-1 and 12-2 are held against the body 20 byraised ridge 42 on the cover. This holds the lace with the desiredamount of tightness. The fully assembled tie is shown in FIG. 13.

To remove the shoe it is only necessary to unscrew the cover 40 and pullup on the tie. The tie slides over the laces to the desired location atwhich time the laces passing through the eyelets of the shoe can beloosened and the shoe removed in the usual manner.

It should be understood that various modifications of the presentinvention are possible. For example, rather than using the screwthreaded cover 40, a slidable type of cover can be used or one with asnap fit. These changes can be made by one skilled in the art.

What is claimed is:

1. A shoe tie for producing and holding two loops from a lace having twofree ends comprising a body having two pairs of holes extending throughsaid body, a

4 first hole of each pair of holes adapted to accept a re spective freeend of the shoe lace passing therethrough in a first direction and thesecond hole of each pair of holes adapted to accept the respective freeend of the lace passing therethrough in a second direction therebyforming a respective loop between the exit of said first hole and theentrance of the second hole of each pair of holes, said body also havingan enclosed channel extending generally transversely of said holes ofboth said pairs for accepting and holding the heads of the free ends ofthe shoe lace, a cover member, and matingmeans on said body adjacent oneof the ends of the holes and'on said cover for holding said cover tosaid body, said cover being adapted to engage the body at said ends ofsaid holes for engaging at least 'one'part of each of the two loopsformed by the two portions of the lace extending through both holes ofeach pair'of holes on one side of the body. r

2. A shoe tie as in claim 1 wherein there is a single channel whichpasses through said body to accept and hold the head of eachfree end'ofthe lace.

3. A shoe tie as set forth in claim 2 wherein the exit ends of the saidsecond holes of each pair are joined in a communicating relationship bysaid channel which lies generally transverse to said holes.

4. A shoe tie as in claim 2 whereinthere is'an'entra'nce end of' saidchannel adjacent the exit end of each of said second holes of each pairof holes.

5. A shoe tie as set forth in claim 4 wherein'a portion of the body isremoved adjacent the exit endof the said second hole of each pair tofacilitate entrance into each end of said channel by a respective headof each free end of the shoe lace.

6. A shoe tie as in claim 1 wherein said one end of said body on whichthe cover is held has a relieved peripheral edge, said cover meanshaving a downwardly extending portion which fits into said relievedpo'rtionof the body.

7. A shoe tie as in claim 6 wherein said mating means on the body andthe cover comprises threaded means.

8. A shoe tie as in claim 1 wherein said mating means on said cover andsaid body comprises an extending threaded member on'said cover and athreaded hole formed in said body.

9 A fshoe tie as in claim, 1 wherein said mating means on said cover andsaid body comprises, an extending threaded member on said cover andathreaded hole formedinsaid body.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS V 'f 155,156 -9/-1s74 Henry. -24117 1,443,895 1/1923 Harris. 1,578,940. 3/1926 Wacha. 1 24 1193,122,2405 3/1964 =Hakim-.; 24-119 3,221,383 12/1965 Bilodeau 24 129BERNARD A. GELAK, Primary Examiner US. 01. X.R. 4 24 12s, 129

